Israeli Troops Hit Gaza; Palestinian Forces Battle Hamas

By JAMES BENNET

Published: September 19, 2003

JERUSALEM, Sept. 18—
In the Israeli Army's largest raid into the Gaza Strip since its partial withdrawal in June, troops swept into a central Gaza refugee camp early today and killed a Hamas militant in a firefight.

But tonight in Gaza City, it was Palestinian security forces that clashed with Hamas gunmen, in a dispute that demonstrated the turbulence in Palestinian politics. Palestinian hospital officials said at least 13 Palestinians had been wounded, all but three of them civilians.

Samir al-Mashharawi, a senior Palestinian official, said Hamas members had burned down a police station and thrown grenades.

The Palestinian interior ministry put out a statement saying that on Wednesday, Hamas had kidnapped a security official and that security forces today arrested seven Hamas men in order to interrogate them.

The interior ministry is controlled by Muhammad Dahlan, the top security official appointed by Mahmoud Abbas, who resigned as Palestinian prime minister on Sept. 6. A Palestinian security official said Hamas appeared to be trying to test Mr. Dahlan. ''We are showing them that we are still strong,'' he said.

But Hamas denied starting the fight. A Hamas official said the group had indeed kidnapped a ''high official of the preventive security,'' but only after Mr. Dahlan's forces had first arrested four Hamas members.

This Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity, accused Mr. Dahlan of provoking a fight with Hamas to undercut efforts by the new Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, to create a stable government. Top officials of Yasir Arafat's Fatah faction want to exclude Mr. Dahlan from that government.

A longtime rival of Mr. Dahlan, Jibril Rajoub, has been trying to negotiate a cease-fire with Hamas, an effort sure to be complicated by the fighting in Gaza.

But Mr. Mashharawi, who is close to Mr. Dahlan, said that the fighting had grown out of a misunderstanding, and that Mr. Dahlan ''didn't even make the decision'' to arrest Hamas members. ''Now he is asking them not to shoot,'' he said.

During peace talks this summer, Israel pressed Mr. Abbas and Mr. Dahlan to arrest members of Hamas. They said they wanted to avoid civil conflict, and also that they lacked sufficient political strength and control of Palestinian security forces.

Mr. Arafat met today with Mr. Qurei, in the West Bank city of Ramallah to discuss how to fill the new cabinet. In a sign that he hopes to reach out to Hamas, Mr. Qurei wants to appoint as a minister Moussa Zaabout, a Gaza legislator who is an Islamist and might serve as a bridge to the group.

For his part, Mr. Arafat reached out to Israelis, declaring his commitment to achieving a new cease-fire and peace in a series of interviews with Israeli news outlets. Israeli officials scoffed at his comments.

Israeli forces also raided the West Bank city of Jenin overnight Wednesday, putting it under curfew to conduct what the army said was a search for suspects. The operation was likely to last several days, Israeli officials said.

In the Israeli raid into Gaza, three soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously, after a gun battle broke out when they surrounded a house early today in the Nusseirat refugee camp, the Israeli Army said. It said that its forces had been seeking to arrest Jihad Abu Shwairah, accused by Israel of weapons smuggling in Gaza, but that he opened fire.

Palestinians said Mr. Abu Shwairah had been alone in the house, which Israeli troops demolished.

Israel has now killed 13 Hamas members and at least 6 civilians as part of what it calls an all-out war on the group, declared after a Hamas suicide bomber killed 23 people on a Jerusalem city bus on Aug. 19.

On Sept. 11, after two Hamas suicide bombings killed 15 people, Israel announced that it had decided in principle to ''remove'' Mr. Arafat, and top Israeli officials have said the measures could include killing, deporting or exiling him.

In an interview published today in Israel's largest-circulation daily, Yediot Ahronot, Mr. Arafat said, ''I tell the Israelis: Enough blood, enough of the destruction and of the daily suffering. Our position has always been against killing Palestinians or Israelis.''

Mr. Arafat said he was not afraid of any Israeli action, noting that he was ''sitting with a gun by my side.'' He rejected Israeli claims that he was responsible for terrorism and said, ''Who among the Palestinian leadership had the courage to sign the Oslo accords except for me?''

Zalman Shoval, an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said, ''Oslo is certainly not a good example for Israelis.'' He said Mr. Arafat had not abided by his commitments under Oslo to halt violence.

He said that with his interviews, Mr. Arafat was ''saying, 'Look, I am the boss, I am the only one who either can deliver or abort what I want.' '' He said Mr. Bush had replied to ''that P.R. effort'' with his remarks today.

In the newspaper interview, Mr. Arafat said that Islamic Jihad had agreed to renew a Palestinian cease-fire and that he was working to persuade Hamas, which he said had a ''positive attitude.'' Mr. Shoval said that Israel was not opposed to a cease-fire as a first step toward breaking apart violent groups, but that ''it cannot be a substitute for what the Palestinians have to do.''

Photo: Palestinians watched tires burn in the center of Gaza City yesterday after clashes between Palestinian security forces and Hamas militants. (Photo by Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)